Government & Politics

The looming public pension crisis in Louisiana is worse than originally thought. What most of us figured was approaching a $20 billion problem is actually, according to a new report, a staggering $74.9 billion problem.

Majority in state favor legalizing marijuana | The New Orleans Advocate – The key aspect to the poll, in my view, is the surprising lack of variance between New Orleans and the rest of the state. The local metro area is no outlier on liberalizing marijuana: 54 percent of the New Orleans metro area support legalization while 53 percent support it statewide. Yet some state legislators act as if the issue is a complete non-starter.

“I want them to be able to get us a superstar. To me, it’s a life-and-death search,” said Dillard University President Walter Kimbrough. Literally, to member Bobbie Stevenson. After a week that saw the murders of several New Orleans children, she said she wants a superintendent who “knows what it takes to put a package together to educate the children of this community so they don’t go around shooting other kids.””

Mark Moseley blogs at Your Right Hand Thief. Until mid 2014, Mark Moseley was The Lens' opinion writer, engagement specialist and coordinator for the Charter Schools Reporting Corps. After Katrina and the Federal Flood he helped create the Rising Tide conference, which grew into an annual social media event dedicated to the future of New Orleans.